Promise
by AGoins2012
Summary: 5 minutes. That's all it took to turn Dana's perfect world upside down. Five Minutes.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone except the other Drs. All belongs to Saban!**

6:55. Five til 7. Five minutes until her shift was over and Dana could go home and curl up in bed with her fiance. Five minutes until she had a whole week to herself to do whatever she wanted. At that moment the night shift started making their way into the E.R. and start getting caught up from the others that worked the day shift. Two more residents came walking over to the service desk where she was sitting, glancing at the clock every chance she could.

"Hey Day. Did you catch that Lakers game last night?" Jacob Price said as he took the seat beside her twirling around to face her.

"Oh yes of course. It was a real slam grand with that touchdown at the buzzer," she said laughing with the others within hearing range while she was packing up her supplies. Soon enough she was walking towards the exit door to head to the resident locker room. "Ya'll have a good night!"

"Eh it's slow," Amy Matthews said as she leaned against the counter. As soon as the words had left her mouth a look of complete fear crossed her face. Dana froze with one hand on the door and slowly turned to look at her as Amy starts shaking her head as Jacob and Dave Allen, the other resident working the day shift with Dana, looked at her with disbelief. Before any more words could be said the in coming emergency phone on the counter rang. All eyes turned to look at it without moving. On the third ring a nurse finally broke the spell and picked up the phone. 30 seconds later she put it back on the holder.

"Five alarm fire in a restaurant downtown. Five ambulances incoming. 4 patrons, 1 firefighter. 4 minutes out," she said looking around the room then going to prep the other nurses working. When the word fire came out of the nurses mouth Dana knew she would be staying to help but as soon as the word firefighter was spoke she froze. She stood her ground, frozen in fear until an intern bumped into her. She quickly ran back to the counter throwing her bag behind it and running to grab her trauma gown and wait outside with the other residents.

Three minutes later the first two of the four emergency vehicles arrived. Seeing 2 other residents head to the first two ambulances she waited for the other two to arrive. And she didn't have to wait long. A short 30 seconds later the final two ambulances came screeching into the emergency bay. Her and 2 interns found their way to the back ambulance just as the paramedic came around the end.

"Multiple burns to arms and back. Possible neck and back injury. They found him under a pillar. Unconscious. This is the firefighter," she said as her and an intern opened the back doors.

"Ryan?!" Dana yelled seeing her brother walking out of the back end of the red vehicle.

"Hey Sis. Fancy meeting you here. Didn't you get off at 7?" he asked as he helped wheel the unconscious covered man into the hospital and into a trauma room.

"We got the call right before I walked out the door. I couldn't just walk out. Carter will understand," she said glancing up at her brother. That's when she caught the look that crossed her older brothers face that made her freeze. With a second glance at her brother she whipped around as an intern was uncovering the firefighters face to reveal her fiance laying on the table with his eyes closed. But as soon as one of the interns put a cleansing pad on one of the burns on his arm his eyes shot open and a scream came from his mouth.

"Push ten of Hydromorphone!" Dana said moving from one side of the room to Carter's side in three strides and putting both hands on the side of his head making him look at her. "Carter! Carter! Look at me. You were in an accident. You're at the hospital. You have a lot of burns on your arms and back. We are going to put you back under so we can clean everything ok?"

"I...I...hands... I can't...feel," he squeaked out between gasps for air. One hand moved from his face to the hand laying on the table beside her. Glancing at it while squeezing it she quickly moved her eyes back to his face and she could tell he wasn't feeling her hand in his.

"Page Neuro now! Don't put him under he needs to be awake when Nero gets here. Carter honey I need you to stay awake for me ok? Can you do that?" Dana asked looking at him again. When he lightly nodded his head she let out a sigh of relief now knowing he most likely didn't have a broken neck or spine. "Page Plastics too."

Right as she said that the head of Trauma, Dr. Barnes and the head of Neuro, Dr. Cope, walked into the trauma room. One of the interns quickly rattled off what they knew while Dana stayed focused on keeping Carter focused on her. The two attending doctors quickly made their way to Carter's side and head.

"Dr. Mitchell is there a reason you aren't helping the others clean the burns?!" Dr. Barnes asked/yelled over the chaos of the room. Dana heard what he had said but it didn't truly process as she could start to see Carter's eyes slipping closed.

"Hey! Carter! You stay awake! You promised me you'd stay awake! You can't break that promise do you hear me?!" she said squeezing her hands a little tighter on his head to get his attention.

"Dr. Mitchell! Why aren't you helping the others?" Dr. Barnes asked again this time louder. But before she could say anything she heard Ryan speak up from the back of the room where he had been shoved into a corner.

"That's her fiance," was all that he had to say before the room grew silent beside his heart monitor beeping steadily.

"Dr. Mitchell I'm sorry but you know the protocol. You can not be on his case. Someone get Dr. Spear in here to take Dr. Mitchell's place please," Dr. Barnes said his voice getting softer. Dana knew what she had to do, so as soon as Dr. Spear walked into the room she slowly let got of Carter's face.

"Remember don't break that promise Carter," she said before backing away from him and towards the door with a glance back at the man on the table. She could feel the tell-tale sign of tears about to fall from her eyes so she hurriedly made her way out of the trauma room and out of the E.R. all together. She knew her brother wouldn't be far behind so she made sure she went at a brisk but easy to follow pace until they were completely clear of prying eyes and ears.

As soon as the door to the exam room she had chosen to hide in shut behind her brother she was a sobbing mess in his arms. He instantly engulfed her in his arms, one going around her shoulders and the other to her head to pet her hair. Ryan wasn't sure how long they had been standing there when she finally pulled away from him but he knew it wasn't long enough for her to be totally ok. But then he figured it was her job to not show too much emotion.

"What was he even doing at the fire? It was his day off," she said wiping her face dry with a kleenex from the box on the exam table.

"We tried to control the fire with the crew we had but it just kept getting away from us. So chief called in the off guys. Just as they were getting there we learned there were still some civilians in the restaurant. We tried to stop him from going in alone but you know Carter, he has no sense of fear. He got two of the three out but when he didn't come out with the third one soon we went in to find them. A pillar had collapsed on them about 50 feet from the door. Carter was shielding the little boy from the fire but he was unconscious when we were finally able to lift it off and pull them out."

When he was done explaining what had gone down during the fire she just scoffed and shook her head slightly, laughing softly.

"Of course he had to be the one to go in. Our fearless leader," she said as tears threatened to spill again. But before anything else could be said Dana's pager beeped on her hip.

'911. Grayson.' was all it read.


	2. Chapter 2

Her and Ryan ran out of the room back towards the E.R. but they soon met the gurney that he was on being pushed to the elevator so they could head to the O.R. waiting on them.

"What's going on?" Dana asked as they fell into line beside them reaching for Carter's hand, even though he couldn't feel it.

"Looks like he has bleeding in the part of his brain that controls his arms and hands. Dr. Cope is gonna go in and fix it," Jessica Spears said as they reached the elevator.

"I'm scrubbing in," Dana said as they started to pile into the oversized elevator.

"No, Dr. Jones needs someone in there to help with the hip replacement on one of the patrons. Besides you know you can't be in there. I'll send someone to update you every hour. Don't worry Dana. I got him," she said as the doors started to close as Dana stood on the other side with her brother.

"He'll be fine Day. You always say that Dr. Cope is the best," Ryan said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"And he is. And you're right he'll be fine. I should go scrub for the hip replacement. You should go call dad and the others. They'll want to be here when he wakes up after surgery," she said turning to him with her tear stained cheeks but now dry eyes.

"Ok. We'll be in the waiting room. Kick butt Day," Bill said pulling out his phone to start making the phone calls he needed to. With a curt nod she turned on her heel and ran off to the O.R. floor.

Exactly an hour later a nurse walked into the operation theater holding a mask over her face. Dana didn't need to turn around to know that she was there to update her on Carter in the room across the hall.

"How's it going Shelly?" Dana asked without looking up from the patient on the table in front of her.

"It took Dr. Cope a little bit to find the source of the bleeding but he's working on it right now. When I left the patient had regained movement in the right side of his body," Shelly spoke without hesitation. At the nurse's words Dana said a silent thank you before replying to her, still without taking her eyes off the patient in front of her.

"Thanks Shelly. Can you go update my dad and the rest of the team in the lobby?" she asked just before the monitor on Mr. Dickson started beeping loudly. With a silent nod Shelly turned on her heels and quickly walked out of the room not wanting to get in the way of the others that rushed to the patient with the rapidly decreasing heart rate.

"Start CPR! What the hell happened?" Dr. Jones asked as Dana started manual CPR on the elderly man on the table. As soon as Dana pushed down there was too much give way. She knew she would most likely break some ribs but she also knew that would be after a couple minutes of CPR, not right away.

"His ribs are already broken. One most likely punctured something, his lung or heart, in the accident," Dana said as she continued CPR as it was the only thing keeping his heart running at the moment.

"Dammit. Crack his chest. Get Dr. Williams up here. STAT!" Dr. Jones said feeling around the man's chest.

"You think it's his heart?" Dana asked as one of the nurses took over the CPR while another prepped his chest to be opened.

"Feel how high this rib is?" he asked showing Dana where to feel the out of place rib. When she nodded he continued grabbing the scalpel at the sametime. "That should be on the side laying against his back almost not in the middle of his chest. He was unconscious at the scene and no one caught the broken rib and he had no unusual heart sounds so there was no way of knowing. I'm just glad he was already on the table when it decided to try to kill him. At least this way we have a chance to save him," he said as Dr. Williams rushed into the scrub room just in time to see Dr. Jones opening the chest cavity.

 **A.N.: Soooooooooooooooo sorry everyone! Life got super crazy! To horses trying to cut off legs as show season starts and then the clinic got slammed with sick puppies that needed 24\7 watch things never slowed down, and then a major case of writer's block. But I'm back! And if ya'll have any couples you want a story of I will try my best, but bare in mind I don't really know any of the teams\characters past Dino Force.**


	3. Chapter 3

The scene Shelly saw as she walked into the O.R. again an hour later was a completely different one than she had left. Dana was elbow deep trying to stop as much as the bleeding as possible while Dr. Williams worked to remove the severed rib while Dr. Jones continued with the hip replacement, but having to stop every few minutes as it was starting to get to much for the patient's body to handle.

"Dr. Mitchell?" was all she said.

"Shelly can you just go tell the others?" Dana asked glancing up briefly just to make sure there wasn't bad news on her face before lowering her head back down.

"Yes Ma'am. I just thought you'd want to know he is going through a lot of anesthetics," she said from behind her mask. This made Dana pause momentarily.

"Side effects from the suit. Let Dr. Cope know that he most likely on has an hour or so left before he won't stay under anymore," she said before finding the cause of most of the bleeding. "Clamp."

"Yes Dr. Mitchell," Shelly said turning and walking out the sliding door again.

"It's no use Dana. This heart has far too much damage. We need to put him on bypass and get him on the transplant list, yesterday," Dr. Williams said finally looking up from the heart and shaking her head.

"Directive says no extraordinary measures ma'am," the anesthesiologist said from his seat behind the patient.

"Well damn. I'm calling it then," she said looking to Dr. Jones and Dana for their approval. "Time of death 22:39. Let's go tell the family."

When the three of them walked through the double doors into the waiting room close to 30 sets of eyes landed on them. Dana could feel her team and the other firefighters eyes following her as she moved towards Mr. Dicksons family but she couldn't bring herself to look at them as she was about to perform the hardest part of her career. She was thankful that Dr. Jones started talking after the family asked what was going on. After the initial shock wore off the family someone Dana assumed was his son started asking questions.

"The paramedics said that a firefighter was laying on top of him shielding him from a fallen pillar? Do you know where that firefighter is?" he asked looking up at the people who had just given him the worst news of his life. Both Dr. Jones and Dr. Williams looked to Dana letting her answer the questions.

"He sustained extensive injuries during the fire and he is in surgery right now to repair what they can of the injuries," Dana said trying to hold back her own tears.

"Could he have caused it? Could he be the reason his rib broke and punctured dad's heart?" he asked looking directly at Dana this time.

"Sir there is no way of knowing when the rib broke and when it went into your dad's heart," Dana said picturing where this conversation was heading. That's also when she could sense her dad and brother walking closer to the group having overheard the conversation.

"But it could be because of him?! He could be the reason he's dead?!" he asked getting louder and louder with each couple words. This is when Dr. Williams stepped in sensing Dana was about to bust.

"Sir I would like to remind you, you are in a hospital and there are other people in here. What Dr. Mitchell said is true there is absolutely no way of knowing when or how it happened, but I can tell you this. Because of what that brave man did he kept you father alive and out of harm's way long enough for paramedics to get to them and get them here. Without him your father would have most likely burned to death while still conscious, meaning it would have been a very long and painful death. This way he was able to go without pain. I'd be thanking that firefighter and all the other emergency responders. Cause Lord knows what would happen without them. Just like the Power Rangers, who by the way are standing over there and in front of you and you is in surgery right now fighting for his life after fighting for yours," she said pointing at the others then Dana then back at the doors they just came through. When she was satisfied he was done yelling she spoke again. "A nurse will come get you when it's ok to go see him. The hospital Chaplain will be waiting for you. Again we are sorry about your loss."

All three turned and walked towards the nurses station as Dana took in a shuddering breath. Then as one of the nurse's handed Dana the chart for her to finish filling out Dr. Jones took it out of her hands and nodded to the group of rangers and firefighters sitting and standing around waiting for more updates. Dana glanced back at the group and then turned back to the Orthopedic surgeon beside her before mouthing a thank you and turning back around and walking to her family, who all stood as she approached.

Before she could get a word out she was enveloped in tan arms and curly brunette hair. As soon as she realized it was Kelsey, Dana's arms wrapped around her former roommate and she could feel her body relax and she was able to breath somewhat normal again. The two former rangers stood with their arms wrapped around each other for what seemed like an hour but was really only a minute or so before they pulled apart smiling at each other. When Dana could see the others again she finally spoke.

"What was the last update? The only thing I got was that we run through pain meds and anesthesia faster than a normal human," Dana said before she caught sight of herself in the windows behind them.

"They were still working on getting movement in his left side. Shelly said Dr. Cope believed he was close to getting it. She said she'd come update us as soon as he got it," her dad said walking over to her and taking her into a hug when he was done talking. At that same moment the doors Dana had come through just moments before opened and all eyes turned to see Dr. Cope and Shelly walk out.

"They shouldn't be done yet," Dana whispered under her breath but her dad could hear it and felt her tense in his arms and he tightened his arm that was still around her shoulder. Dr. Cope and Shelly were talking to one another and not looking up at the group that had gathered around Dana and Bill. Ryan could feel the mood shift in his sister and knew it wasn't a good shift so he joined his dad and wrapped one arm around her shoulder blades hugging her on her other side. The nurses at the nurse station all grew silent as they watched the head Neurosurgeon, followed by the rest of the waiting room as all eyes followed the doctor and nurse.

When they finally got close to the group of what people would call heroes the doctor and nurse finally looked up from each other and Dana locked eyes with the surgeon that she trusted with her life and her best friend/fiance's life. She had always found it interesting that people couldn't read what the answer was from his eyes and face, but know she just found it annoying. When they reached the group that waiting room was so silent you could hear the elevator humming and the dings indicating the floor arrival, when it was two floors above them.


	4. Chapter 4

Dana could feel her knees about to give out from under her as Dr. Cope continued to stare at her and was thankful that her father and brother were holding her up. After what seemed like forever Kelsey was the one to break the silence.

"How's Carter?" she asked in the quietest voice any of them had ever heard come from her mouth. Dr. Cope's eyes never left Dana's as he started to answer.

"Mr. Grayson...is stable in the ICU. He'll be under sedation for a couple more hours before we start to lift him out. Once he is awake we'll be able to tell if the fix worked. We could no longer keep him under in the O.R., he was beginning to wake up. For a normal human they would be out for another 12 hours with the dose we gave but I'm assuming he'll be awake in about three. While we usually only allow three people in the rooms at a time I believe we can make an exception for Mr. Grayson. Nurse Shelly can show you to his room when you're ready," Dr. Cope said before nodding at Dana and then walking to the nurses station to the room behind it.

"He's in room 420 Day," Shelly said looking at her and knowing she didn't need someone to show her around.

"Thanks Shelly. Do you know who's on call in there tonight?" she asked?

"I don't off the top of my head but I can find out and let you know," she said shaking her head and then walking away with a nod from Dana.

"Hey Dana," came a voice from behind the Mitchell family. They turned around to see Fire Chief Mark Rogers. "We're going to give you guys the time you need. We'll be by tomorrow to see him. Will you keep us updated on how he's doing?"

"Of course Chief. And you are all more than welcome to stay," Dana said as her brother and father finally let go of her shoulders.

"It's ok Day, we have things we need to get done at the station, besides we'd just be taking up room and making noise," Carter's second in command, Austin said coming up and placing a hand on her shoulder. "And some of these boys desperately need a shower," he said making her laugh while some of the others shoved his shoulder. At those words she also realized she hadn't been able to take her shower after surgery and she probably wasn't the nicest smelling person there either.

"A shower sounds amazing," Dana said as the firefighters started to walk towards the door of the waiting room and out to the waiting trucks. "You guys can go ahead and head back to his room. I'm gonna go shower and change and then I'll be back there."

"Are you sure D?'' Chad asked stepping forward to stand beside Kelsey and Ryan. As her eyes turned to him she caught another look at herself in the windows and saw the leftover tear stains from a few hours earlier and then a smudge of blood here and there that she wasn't able to scrub off in the scrub room before going to tell people their loved one was no longer with them.

"Yeah it won't take me long, I got good at 5 minute showers when Kels would shower first and use all the hot water in the Aquabase," she said as they all start laughing and Kelsey just shrugs and laughs along. "I'll see you guys in a bit."

Before she walked out she stopped by the nurses station where Shelly and another nurse were sitting.

"Hey Bekah can you show my family where the ICU is? If they don't get shown there they'll end up in the Peds ward," she asked the other nurse sitting by Shelly.

"Sure Day no problem," she said standing up and walking around the desk towards the group of Lightspeed personal. When they were out of view she turned back to Shelly.

"It looks like it's Zac, Dan, and Rachel in there tonight," she said knowing what Dana was going to ask.

"Great. Thanks so much Shelly. You were a life saver for me today. I owe you," Dana said smiling a small bit before walking away towards the locker room. Mr. Dickson's family was still in the waiting area as she walked by and a little girl came running towards her and latched onto her leg. Dana came to a halt as soon as the girl made contact and looked down at her clinging to her scrub clad leg.

"Thank you Miss Doctor," she said and then walked back over to her family that was staring at the two. Dana just smiled and then hastily walked back through the doors as she felt the sting of tears rise again.


End file.
